Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar, who is also an MQM-P leader and part of its coordination committee, while deciding against the decision of Supreme Court has announced on Friday that marriage halls and buildings in the city will not be demolished.
He has asked the Sindh government to file a review petition against the SC orders. Wasim Akhtar maintained that the apex court has also directed to demolish those marriage halls in which bookings for events have already been made.
On the other hand, All Karachi Marriage Halls Association (AKMHA) staged a protest outside Sindh Building Control Authority’s (SBCA) head office in Civic Centre. They also tried to block University Road and exchanged harsh words with police officers. SBCA held negotiations with the protesters but they ended in futility.
Later, AKMHA ended their protest but called a strike starting tomorrow saying that no events will be allowed in their marriage halls on Sunday. SBCA has issued notices to 50 per cent of the marriage halls in districts East and Central, directing them to halt commercial activities on the plots.
The SBCA has given a three-day ultimatum following which an operation will be initiated against all the businesses being run on amenity plots, residential plots or converted plots. Earlier, SC had directed Sindh government to demolish all marriage halls and buildings situated along Karsaz, Shahrah-e-Faisal, Rashid Minhas Road and Malir.
Justice Gulzar Ahmed expressed resentment over destroying Karachi’s beauty and ordered the concerned authorities to devise a plan within two weeks for making the metropolis encroachment-free. The court had summoned heads of Airport Security Force (ASF), Karachi Port Trust (KPT), Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and other relevant departments in the case.
